Remdesivir: 'Very potent inhibitor' of SARS-CoV-2?
Experimental Ebola drug remdesivir could stop SARS-CoV-2 from replicating by functioning on an integral enzyme, according to a fresh study from the University of Alberta.
Last month, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the launch of a multinational trial, testing the four most promising therapeutic avenues for COVID-19.
One of these avenues is remdesivir, a drug that research scientists at first developed for the treating Ebola, but which includes recently proven some promise in fighting coronaviruses.
Following on from this evidence, and reports that the drug may have helped some patients seeking treatment for COVID-19 to recuperate, scientists have already been studying remdesivir’s effects on SARS-CoV-2.
Lately, a team of investigators from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, has conducted an in vitro study to see if remdesivir would act on SARS-CoV-2 just as that it appears to act on SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV.
The researchers report their findings in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
New evidence in support of remdesivir
This past year, University of Alberta researchers showed that remdesivir could stop MERS-CoV in its tracks by interfering with the mechanism which allows the virus to reproduce and spread.
“We were optimistic that people would see the same results against the SARS-CoV-2 virus,” says Prof. Matthias Götte, who contributed to both studies.
In the brand new study, the researchers expressed RNA-dependent RNA polymerases present in SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 in insect cells. These polymerases are enzymes that allow each of the two coronaviruses to replicate.
They then exposed the enzymes to remdesivir and observed what happened. The researchers saw that the drug effectively acted on both viruses’ polymerases just as, inhibiting proliferation.
“We obtained almost identical results as we reported previously with MERS, so we see that remdesivir is a very potent inhibitor for coronavirus polymerases,” says Prof. Götte.
“If you target the polymerase, the virus cannot spread, so it’s an extremely logical target for treatment,” he goes on to explain.
“These coronavirus polymerases are sloppy, and they get fooled, so the inhibitor gets incorporated often, and the virus can't replicate.”
- Prof. Matthias Götte
This evidence shows that remdesivir could be an efficient “direct-acting antiviral” against SARS-CoV-2, as the team terms it.
Nevertheless, the investigators note that laboratory studies, while they indicate that the drug is a promising therapeutic avenue, cannot concur that it could be safe in humans.
Prof. Götte and his colleagues emphasize that to verify the drugs’ effectiveness and safety in the context of a COVID-19 treatment, we should wait for the consequence of clinical trials, which already are underway.
“We’ve got to show patience and await the results of the randomized clinical trials,” the researcher notes.
Prof. Götte also declares that current and previous research from his laboratory which has involved remdesivir was possible partly because of funding and other support from Gilead Sciences, a biopharmaceutical company that produces the drug.
The researcher goes on to emphasize the value of laboratory-based studies that are centered on potential therapeutics.
“We are desperate [to find an efficient treatment for COVID-19], but we still need to keep carefully the bar high for anything that we put into clinical trials,” he says.
Source: www.medicalnewstoday.com
